Smith, Lisa (2026) Beautiful Fertility in the Eighteenth Century. In: A Cultural History of Beauty in the Enlightenment. The Cultural History Series, 4 . Bloomsbury Academic, London. ISBN 9781350071889. Official URL: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/cultural-history-of-... (In Press)
Smith, Lisa (2026) Beautiful Fertility in the Eighteenth Century. In: A Cultural History of Beauty in the Enlightenment. The Cultural History Series, 4 . Bloomsbury Academic, London. ISBN 9781350071889. Official URL: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/cultural-history-of-... (In Press)
Smith, Lisa (2026) Beautiful Fertility in the Eighteenth Century. In: A Cultural History of Beauty in the Enlightenment. The Cultural History Series, 4 . Bloomsbury Academic, London. ISBN 9781350071889. Official URL: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/cultural-history-of-... (In Press)
Abstract
This chapter considers the relationship between fertility, health and beauty in eighteenth-century England and France, situating everyday assumptions within a wider scientific and colonial context. Drawing on medical treatises, recipes books, fortune-telling guides and fairy tales, this chapter argues that discussions about beautiful fertility—which centered on fertility identification, embodied morality and infant care—revealed broader anxieties about national morality and strength.
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | beauty; history; fertility; reproduction; fairy tales; medicine; health; race; class; gender; eighteenth century; Infertility, Female; Infertility, Male; Women's Health; Beauty Culture; History of Medicine; History, 18th Century |
Divisions: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies, School of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 01 Sep 2025 14:39 |
Last Modified: | 01 Sep 2025 14:39 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/33844 |
Available files
Filename: Smith Beautiful Fertility accepted version RIS.pdf
Embargo Date: 1 January 2100